The SoMe Generation. R U connecting?

Social Media. It’s as much emblematic of Millennials as Peace, Love & Rock ‘n’ Roll were to Boomers. For anyone born before this 18-34 generational leviathan, it’s almost difficult to imagine growing up in a world where Digital is king. Where you can communicate, congregate, create, share, learn, inform, mobilize and play…from a phone. Social Media is where Millennials live. That’s the reality of it. Brands who embrace it will, at the very least, be tapping into a $54 billion marketing opportunity — and that’s just women in the 20-30-year age bracket.

Here’s the easy part: Millennials love their brands. And when they feel yours “gets” them, respects them, represents them, understands how to communicate with them within the SoMe context — they’ll reward you with their loyalty. They’ll join your brand’s online community. Or create one. They’ll be proud to associate themselves with you and will spread the good word to family and friends on popular social media outlets. But seller beware: Lose their trust, and it’s over.  Very difficult to win them back. And that word will zip around the world as well.

Branding, Social Media and how it all relates to Millennials is a ginormous topic. Way too much to cover here. But the point of these e-blasts is to give you news you can use. So regarding how to engage Millennials to try your brand, we’d like to leave you with one such useful info nugget that’s actually sooo 20th Century. But, it works: Free products. Yup. That and discounts. Seems obvious but stats show that such incentives will persuade one in five Millennials to switch to your brand. Hm. Guess it’s not all that different from what appealed to Grandma. Now if only she could have gotten those discounts through her rotary phone.

More to come. Stay connected…

http://burnsent.com/blog/millennials

About Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing:
The objective every business hopes to achieve is…more business. With over 40 years of expertise in consumer analysis, pop culture and matching celebrities with brands, we’ve helped our clients galvanize sales, share and profit. We invite you to read our success stories. And become one of them. Please visit http://burnsent.com/case-studies and/or contact CEO/COO Bob Williams at Bob.Williams@burnsent.com.


Sources:
Edelman’s The 8095 Exchange: Millennials, Their Actions Surrounding Brands, and the Dynamics of Reverberation White Paper

Euro RSCG Worldwide Millennials and Social Media White Paper

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Generation Me – Diverse, Single and Massive
Buying Power

The Millennial generation comprises the children of Baby Boomers and represents the largest generation since the post-war boom.

  • Millennials are of special interest to marketers that want to optimize their advertising to appeal to the largest segment of under-45s. Roughly  ¼ of Americans are part of this generation.
  • Only 60% of Millennials are non-Hispanic whites. The greatest change in diversity comes from the Hispanic population, which represents 19% of the Millennial generation and just 11% of the over-45 population.
  • Just 21% of 18-28 year olds are married, leaving a much higher percentage of the Millennial generation as never married and single. Unmarried or childless consumers have more time to socialize with friends, travel, dine out, and enjoy other forms of out-of-home entertainment.

The Technology Generation

Perhaps nothing better defines the Millennial generation than the advent of internet and mobile technology. The impact of these technologies on the social interactions of Millennials has bred a number of generational characteristics:

  • Constant connectivity. The ubiquitous availability of broadband and mobile phones means Millennials are used to having a connection to the rest of the world that is always on. About 28% of Millennials say smartphones are necessary to have a good social life.
  • Instant gratification. The internet has made information and entertainment immediately accessible. Millennials have become accustomed to being able to access content when and where they want.
  • Low attention span. Attempts at marketing pieces that might go viral have become standard practice on YouTube. This raises the bar that much higher for products and services to stand out among the noise.
  • High expectations. Millennials have access to more content on the web than ever before, and they get it all for free. They view a free internet as a social issue on par with the environment and resist corporate marketing online.

Self-expression is Key

The need for self-expression is natural in young people, and Millennials are no exception. However, unlike previous generations whose reach was limited to mass media channels like TV and radio, any Millennial with an internet connection is able to broadcast to the entire world.

  • Reality TV exploded while Millennials were teenagers, rewarding everyday people who managed to stand out in their own way. 71% of Millennials say that being a unique individual in a group is important
  • With social networking sites, users can broadcast minute details of their life to all their friends simultaneously. Self-expression taken to an extreme has become a form of self-branding, or becoming a mini-celebrity in one’s own circles. About 42% of Millennials say that appearing clever on sites like Facebook is important

Marketers have come to understand that nearly all products and brands can be used by Millennial consumers to express who they are, and the more people that take notice, the better.
The flip side of extreme self-expression is a higher level of tolerance for individuality and different lifestyles. Pew Center data support the idea that Millennials are more accepting than previous generations were at the same age of people who differ in religious belief, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

Politics and Economics Continue to Shape Millennails

Current events seen over the last three years have changed the course of Millennial culture, which had been characterized by rampant consumerism. A near collapse of the economy and a political shifting of the winds have redirected attitudes, with the ultimate outcome yet to be determined.

  • The election of Barack Obama in 2008 revealed the Millennial generation to be one capable of intense civic involvement and ready for social change. However, Millennials are no more likely than Gen-Xers to believe that people should volunteer more, suggesting that political passion was more a result of hype marketing from the Obama campaign.
  • Millennials remain optimistic in the face of the most difficult economic climate in decades; nine in 10 Millennials in a Pew Center Survey believe they have enough money or will eventually meet their long-term financial goals. However, should unemployment levels remain elevated for years to come, the Millennial generation may find themselves characterized by a certain disillusionment and financial sobriety.

Internet and Mobile are the Backbone of Life

Recent television ads targeting Millennials have reinforced the notion that internet and mobile technology form the backbone of modern living.

  • Some of the most successful Millennial brands, like Google and Apple, have managed to imbue their products and services with a mainstream hip factor and endowed its technology with a soul.
  • At the same time, marketers of other product brands, like The Gap and Coca-Cola, have found light-hearted ways to poke fun at the overwhelming pressure that constant connectivity through technology can present.
  • Away from technology and its associated backlash, marketers are also appealing to Millennials with high-energy forms of self-expression. Youth-oriented brands, like Nike and Red Bull, showcase impressive forms of athleticism as a way for Millennials to stand out and be admired by peers.

Overcome Resistance to Social Media Advertising with Innovation

One distinct attitude seen more strongly among Millennials is a higher level of annoyance with online advertising, especially among the younger half (15-24s).

  • 41% of 18-24 year olds and 35% of 25-34 year olds agreed that social networking sites are places to socialize and they don’t want to see ads or profiles from companies or brands on them.
  • Only 18% of 18-24 year olds and 12% of 25-34 year olds report being a fan or friend of a brand, product, service, or retail store on their site.

To address this attitudinal barrier to corporate activity on Facebook, innovators have found ways to weave their marketing into users’ own multimedia content and leverage Facebook features:

  • In December 2009, Starbucks ran its largest-scale global Facebook campaign to date to raise awareness of a charity initiative for AIDS victims in Africa. Facebook users were invited to post videos of their own performance of the Beatles song All You Need is Love. A charitable contribution was made for each video submitted.
  • In November 2009, IKEA launched a new store opening in Sweden, by offering free products to Facebook users who tagged their name to posted photos of products displayed in an IKEA showroom. The use of tagging propagated these pictures through the profiles of thousands of users in a short period of time.

Millennials Moving Forward

We will continually update this space on all things “Millennials”, so please check back often, and as always, if you have any questions or if you’d like to discuss a particular objective within your brand, please do not hesitate to connect.

Brands hire Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing to help deliver their most important messages to their most important audiences, from brand positioning to product launches to global campaigns, to drive affinity, sales, share and profits.  Our expertise in the world of celebrity and pop culture — who’s hot, who’s not, and how to leverage talent across the marketing mix — has produced unparalleled brand success for 41 years.